KINGSTON, N.Y. -- Ulster County lawmakers have approved legislation calling on the county Mental Health Department to assess the mental health services offered by school districts throughout the county and work with those schools to improve the offerings.

But with County Executive Michael Hein yet to weigh in on the measure, the fate of the measure is uncertain. Hein said he has 30 days to consider the legislation and must hold a public hearing before deciding whether to allow it to take effect or veto it.

"Our mental health professionals will be analyzing this, speaking to superintendents of schools, school boards and those who would be affected by this action," Hein said. "My primary concern is ensure high-quality mental health services are available to the people for Ulster County now and long into the future."

Ulster County lawmakers adopted the measure, proposed by Legislator Robert Parete, in a 17-6 vote on Tuesday.

Advertisement

Parete, D-Stone Ridge, first urged in January, a month after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut, that Ulster County give $2.5 million to school districts to help fund mental health services and school resource officers.

When fellow lawmakers balked at providing schools with financial assistance, Parete revised his plan to instead call on the Mental Health Department to conduct a "needs assessment" of mental health services in schools every three years; to work with the school districts based on the findings of those assessments; and to provide annual reports to the Legislature.

The proposed law also calls on schools to offer counseling and other programs that address youth violence, gang activity, bullying and eating disorders.

"Families are in desperate need of services for their children," Parete said in a press release following the vote.

"Recent cuts to Ulster County-based mental health programs have only exacerbated this gap in services," he stated.

The proposal is similar to one outlined by Hein in March that called on the county Mental Health Department and Ulster BOCES to assess and address the mental health needs of families and children in the county as well as evaluate a "school-based clinic strategy" for delivering mental health services to the county's children.

Hein said he is concerned that Parete's bill could have "unintended consequences" for school districts, which were not significantly involved in the development of the law.

"Some (districts) have brought to our attention that there was no significant discussions with superintendents of school districts throughout this process," Hein said.

That concern was echoed by Legislator Jeanette Provenzano, who criticized Parete for not understanding the concerns of some lawmakers.

"It is difficult to support a local law that mandates what a school district should or should not do ... without input from any superintendent of or any school board member for the nine school districts in Ulster County," Provenzano, D-Kingston, said in a written statement.

Parete called on Provenzano, Legislator Robert Aiello, R-Saugerties, and Majority Leader Ken Ron, R-Wallkill -- three members of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee who voted against the measure -- to hold public hearings on the issue to "better understand the seriousness of this topic."